The present invention is related to a method for manufacturing pressure-difference sensors having a semiconductor measurement diaphragm clamped between two bearing parts.
The European Patent Publication No. EP O 007 596 B1 ("the '596 publication") describes a pressure-difference sensor which has a semiconductor measuring diaphragm clamped, in insulated manner, between two bearing parts thereby forming an inner chamber in each case. Each of the two bearing parts holds a flat electrode on its inside. A first inner chamber is acted on, via a passage opening in the one bearing part, by a first pressure of the pressure difference to be measured. A second inner chamber is acted on by a second pressure of the pressure difference to be measured. The semiconductor measuring diaphragm and the flat electrodes are provided with external connections.
The pressure-difference sensor described in the '596 publication is developed such that its second inner chamber can also be acted on, via a passage opening in the corresponding bearing part, by the second pressure of the pressure difference to be measured. Thus, the pressure-difference sensor described in the '596 publication can detect a pressure difference in the traditional manner. However, the pressure-difference sensor of the '596 publication can also be used as a pressure measuring instrument by not providing a passage opening in the further bearing part, by forming the inner chamber with this further bearing parts and by evacuating the semiconductor measuring diaphragm or by connecting it with the outer air.
The object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a pressure-difference sensor having a semiconductor measuring diaphragm clamped between two bearing parts, each of the two bearing parts having flat electrodes and for creating the outer connectors for the semiconductor measuring diaphragm and the two flat electrodes in a relatively simple manner.